Author: Killer Reads admin

It’s Valentine’s Day! And here, at Killer Reads, we wanted to give you a Valentine’s Day gift of our own: The Killer Reads team’s 5 Anti-Valentine’s Day Picks! Now we know what you’re thinking… are you sure you picked the right holiday? But we promise you won’t be disappointed!

My name is Roxy Davenport and I’m part of a dying breed: I’m the perfect housewife.

My whole life, I’ve tried to follow the rules of previous, wiser generations. High school sweethearts must marry (check!), the wife must stay home to look after the children (check!), all married couples must procreate and raise 3.2 children (demerit we only managed one oops!).

But it turns out all the while, my husband has been playing by his own rules and playing around.

So screw him! I’ve chucked the handbook out the window. He has no idea what’s coming for him. And my perfect neighbourhood will never be the same again.

2. The Wife by ML Roberts

There are three people in her marriage.

Michael and Ellie are that couple.

The ones who have it all.

Success, charm, trust but no relationship is perfect and the events of the past cast a shadow over their charmed life together.

When lecturer Michael starts to mentor a new student, Ellie fears that history is repeating itself. As paranoia takes its ugly hold, it’s clear some things just can’t be forgotten or forgiven.

Books 1, 2 and 3 are available now, with part 4 coming on 2nd March 2018!

Amber Patterson is tired of being a nobody: an invisible woman who melts into the background. She deserves more. She deserves a life of wealth, luxury and leisure.

Daphne Parrish is the golden girl of Bishops Harbor, Connecticut. With her model looks, her picture-perfect mansion and her millionaire husband, Jackson, she has everything Amber wants.

Amber’s envy could eat her alive if she didn’t have a plan. Before long, she has become Daphne’s closest friend, and is catching the eye of Jackson. But a skeleton from her past could destroy everything, and if discovered, Amber’s well-laid plan may end in disaster.

It is ten years since Ella’s sister Miranda disappeared without trace, leaving her young baby behind. Chilling new evidence links Miranda to the horrifying Jason Thorne, now in prison for murdering several women. Is it possible that Miranda knew him?

At thirty, Miranda’s age when she vanished, Ella looks uncannily like the sister she idolized. What holds Ella together is her love for her sister’s child and her work as a self-defence expert helping victims.

Haunted by the possibility that Thorne took Miranda, and driven by her nephew’s longing to know about his mother, Ella will do whatever it takes to uncover the truth no matter how dangerous.

When Helen moves abroad with her loving husband Gary, she can’t wait to meet her fellow expat teachers from the local International School. But her new start is about to become her worst nightmare

As soon as the charming family across the way welcome Helen into their home, she begins to suspect that all is not as it seems. Then Gary starts to behave strangely and a child goes missing, vanished without a trace.

When violence and tragedy strike, cracks appear in the community, and Helen realises her perfect neighbours are capable of almost anything.

More commonly known as TheQueen of Gangland Crime Fiction, #1 Sunday Times bestseller Kimberley Chambers has written a brand new standalone novel, Life of Crime. Meet Jason Rampling – he will do anything to give him and his family a better start in life and slowly but surely steps into a Life of Crime. Packed full of gripping tension, shocking twists and witty East End banter, this is Kimberley Chambers at her best. But while we know all about her characters, what about the woman who created them? Here, Kimberley Chambers tells us about New Year’s Resolutions, writing, and vodka…

It’s that time of year again when we all look to the New Year as a clean slate- do you have any New Year’s resolutions?

I want to get to the gym more like I used to. I’ve been working to deadlines recently to get Life of Crime ready for publication, and so have been staying up late working, which has meant I have less time for the gym than I’d like. I also want to cut down on the booze, drink more water, eat healthier but I say that every January and by February I’ve forgotten…

You are well known for the authenticity and rawness of your crime novels. How do you go about researching them?

The storyline always comes from my imagination but, if I need any police procedural information, I’m friendly with an ex-copper who always proves very helpful. I won’t tell you how I met him but you might be able to guess..!

My main method of research and how I bring colour into my books is through the TV, news and music of the era I’m writing about. The further I go back in time the more flavour I can bring in terms of cultural markers such as TV, music and fashion. My favourite periods to write in are the 60s, 70s and 80s – I just love the music and the fashion of those decades. And, of course, the world wasn’t as politically correct back then, so my characters can reflect that.

Life of Crime is a standalone novel- what prompted you to move away from the Butler family, that are the running theme throughout your previous novels?

Although I like writing series like the Butlers, I found it refreshing to get my teeth into a new story and I’m really pleased with the characters I’ve created in this novel. We’ve got a mixture of nasty, nice, dysfunctional and even a shoplifting Nan. Although my books are down to earth, and can be quite violent, I like to bring a bit of humour in too, which I think comes through in Life of Crime.

What do you most enjoy about being a writer? Did you know that this was what you wanted to be?

What I like most about this job is that I can keep warm indoors, instead of freezing my lils off as I did for years when working on Roman Road market. I completely love being a full-time writer. Of course, I have my moments of wanting to throw my writing pad across the room, but I feel blessed to have this career, I really do. My books have got to number one, I’ve eaten in fine restaurants and gone to glamourous parties – I could never have even dreamt that this would be my life when I grew up.

On a more practical front, you can also choose your own hours, which the dogs love as I can take them around the park whenever they want. I’ve always been a bit of a night owl, so I tend to work in the evenings and burn the midnight oil. I actually write every book by hand so, while it’s not the quickest method, it means that I can work anywhere.

And, finally, what book have you read recently that you’ve thought was particularly good?

I’ve just read Women in the Window by AJ Finn and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I couldn’t put it down!

The Detective Club returns with our November Crime Club picks, starting with one of the earliest and most original psychological crime novels which is now impossible to find secondhand: Nightmare by Lynn Brock (such a fantastically creepy cover!). In this unique novel, a young novelist sets about taking murderous revenge having been driven to madness by the cruelty of a small group of people…

Simon Whalley is an unsuccessful novelist who is gradually going to pieces under the strain of successive setbacks. Brooding over his troubles, and driven to despair by the cruelty of his neighbours, he decides to take his revenge in the only way he knows how – by planning to murder them . . .

In the 1920s and 30s Lynn Brock wrote the very popular ‘Colonel Gore’ mysteries, winning praise from fans and critics including Dorothy L. Sayers and T. S. Eliot. In 1932, however, Brock adopted a new kind of narrative, a ‘psychological thriller’ in the vein of Francis Iles’ recent sensation, Malice Aforethought.

This novel has been hailed as one of the most remarkable books that Collins ever published’, the unconventional and doom-laden Nightmare gives a disturbing portrayal of what it might take to turn a normal man into a cold-blooded murderer.

In print for the first time since 1951, Design for Murder is the long-lost novelisation of the radio serial ‘Paul Temple and the Gregory Affair’.

The Assistant Commissioner of Scotland Yard visits retired Detective Lionel Wyatt with the chilling news that an old adversary they never caught has struck again, strangling an innocent girl. Wyatt is reluctant to return to police work, but then another body is found – this time at his own home, with a personal message: ‘With the compliments of Mr Rossiter’.

This was Francis Durbridge’s longest serial and contains all the best elements of the thrilling radio episodes but, in a newtwist, he renamed the main characters! Reprinted for the first time in over 60 years and with the addition of the exclusive 1946 Radio Times short story, ‘Paul Temple’s White Christmas’ – this is one you won’t want to miss!

Finally, we give you The Rynox Mystery by Philip MacDonald – a classic Golden Age crime novel, and the first time Philips wrote a crime novel without a detective!

An engrossing murder mystery set in the business world, Rynox is a subtle and exciting novel by one of the greatest masters of the mystery story.

‘Rynox’ is at that point where one injudicious move, one failure of judgement, one coincidental piece of bad luck will wreck it. So why would anyone send more than a million pounds in one-pound notes to Mr Salisbury of the Naval, Military and Cosmopolitan Assurance Corporation? Who would shoot F.X. Benedik, the senior partner of the firm, through the head in his study? And where is the choleric Mr Marsh, who had an appointment with F.X. on the night of his death? Rynox is on the edge of big things. But the edge of big things is a narrow edge. And narrow edges are slippery . . .